21 September 2015 - In partnership with the Philippine American Writers and Artists, Inc., the Philippine Studies Department City College of San Francisco and the NVM Gonzalez Writers’ Workshop, the Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco hosted the centenary celebration of National Artist for Literature NVM Gonzalez on September 11.
Deputy Consul General Jaime Ramon T. Ascalon welcomed guests on behalf of Philippine Consul General to San Francisco Henry S. Bensurto, Jr. He said that in celebrating the centenary, “we hope to inspire the next generation of Filipinos and Filipino Americans to soar higher in whatever they are doing. NVM Gonzales contributed significantly to raising the profile of Philippine literature in the US, and other parts of the world.” He thanked Prof. Myke Gonzalez, the son of NVM Gonzalez, and his wife Patricia for initiating the celebration, which gave the Filipino-American community an avenue to learn more about Philippine culture.
The program included an excerpt of NVM Gonzalez and his wife speaking candidly in a documentary entitled “A Story to be Told,” followed by NVM’s colleagues and students recounting anecdotes of their times with the author. The event was capped by guitar duets performed by Prof. Gonzalez and Theresa Calpotura of the SF Conservatory of Music.
During colleague Oscar Penaranda’s recollection of his times with NVM, the former remembered how the latter saw the Filipino diaspora echoed in the story of the three sons in “Ibong Adarna,” a tale about a king who fell ill and could only be healed if he heard the song of the Ibong Adarna. He likened the three sons to Filipinos in the diaspora who traveled to foreign lands, in the hopes of finding a cure for our ailing country.
Prof. Gonzalez unveiled the Centenary stamp of NVM Gonzalez, which will be released in the Philippines in 2016.
Cocktails followed the program, which was well-attended by members of the academe, the press, and Filipino-American organizations such as the San Francisco-Manila Sister City Committee, and high school and college students.
The Centenary is the third in a series of activities by PAWA designed to drum up interest for the 3rd Filipino-American International Book Festival, which will be held from October 02 to 04 at the San Francisco Public Library. END